Franky on Finance

While it was buried in yesterday’s Budget details, the earnings ceiling for NI has been raised by £100 to £770 a week. Analysts say this means workers earning around £40,000 will pay £520 extra a year and will be among the big losers from the Budget. The change to the NI cap will be worth almost £2bn a year in revenues to the Treasury. Critics say the rise in NI bills, combined with the lack of concessions on other taxes that fall hardest on the capital - such as residential-property stamp duty, higher council tax bills, road tax, increased duty on alcohol etc - meant Londoners would be providing an even higher proportion of the national tax from April. As there are more people in London earning over £40,000 a year, they would be hit the hardest by this hidden tax.